[Wormlight] All the Video Games Merch That Money Can Buy

I enjoy writing about nerd culture in general, which includes gaming as well as writing about all kinds of sexy, collectible plastic goodness. I figured it was about time I combined these two things and shed some light on the kind of merch available for gamer fans. There’s a surprising amount of stuff out there, especially if you’re willing to import them from Japan. No, don’t look at me like that.. it’s a lot easier than it sounds. Promise!

Check out my list below of toys and statues that are currently available for purchase or pre-order! I’ve decided to leave out stuff that isn’t readily available because that would just be cruel. I’ve also separated each section by franchise, just to make it easier to sort through.

1) Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Kotobukiya have this great line of statues called Bishoujo, which feature designs by Shunya Yamashita and depict pin-up versions of various comics, games, and movie characters. The TEKKEN Bishoujo line has been fantastic so far; really, some of the best work they’ve put out. Out of the stuff that’s already been released, Alisa Bosconovich is my favorite. The two upcoming statues (currently up for pre-order at Kotobukiya’s US Store), are Jaycee and Lili. Announced/upcoming next is Xiaoyu.

2) Figma Pit and Pitoo (Dark Pit) from Kid Icarus

Fans of poseable figures and Kid Icarus games may be interested in grabbing one or both of these figma action figures up for pre-order of Pit and Pitoo by Max Factory, which are both slated for release in April of this year. You can order them from AmiAmi, a Japanese retailer that ships internationally (ignore the big on the listing that says “For sale in Japan only.”, or Big Bad Toy Store, which is US-based and usually sells a bunch of the import stuff as well, for a price (Pit | Pitoo). (With the exception of merch from Kotobukiya or other manufacturers that sell internationally, AmiAmi is usually the most secure and cheapest way to buy import toys.)

3) Pokémon

Pokémon goods are a dime a dozen in Japan, but not often as readily available everywhere else, much to the chagrin of avid international fans. The latest batch of stuff as previewed by Dengeki Online shows adorable little mugs, tails as mobile phone charms, and more. Thankfully, this kind of stuff is available for purchase at Pokévault, as we now know thanks to a community member.

Recently, Bandai have also been releasing some D-Arts poseable figures of various Pokémon (original series), starting with Mewtwo and Charizard. The latest reveal was Blastoise (Venusaur to follow), and it looks great. Orders should be up soon, so keep an eye out!

Brutal Legend fans might be delighted to know there’s a statue out just for them. Double Fine is selling this huge Eddie Riggs at their shop — he measures 17 inches tall and, though he appears to be available at the time of writing, it’s limited. So, yanno, don’t dawdle!

6) Dead Space 3′s Isaac Clarke

I love Isaac Clarke! I haven’t played Dead Space 3 yet, but it doesn’t matter. He’s still a bad-ass to me. And if he’s also a bad-ass to you, you might be interested in some things, like the Square Enix Play Arts Kai figure that’s currently up for pre-order (for release in May), or this spectacularly detailed statue by Kotobukiya, which isn’t poseable, but is a bit over a foot tall and has lights (image above). That one is slated for release in June and you could buy it from Koto directly.

7) D-Arts Bass and Treble (of Mega Man fame)

The bad news is these D-Arts figures are a Tamashii web exclusive. The good news is, that doesn’t matter because some retailers will help a brotha’ out every now and then. You can snag a pre-order of the duo over at Big Bad Toy Store, and they’re slated for release in July. Exclusive, shmexclusive!

8) Tales of… series

I haven’t played any Tales of games before, to be honest; but boy is their fandom noisy lately. And it’s no surprise, considering there are some great statues coming out for the franchise, as well as neato papercraft and other stuff. You can currently order figures of Milla Maxwell (already released), Raven (for release in June), Flynn (already released), and Jude Mathis as a cute papercraft piece (you build it yourself; releasing soon) .

9) TERA‘s Elin

TERA is another game that I’ve been wanting to try out at some point, but just haven’t gotten around to. The designs are beautiful, and this statue of Elin is exemplary of that. She’s currently up for pre-order and is slated for release in May, at which point I’ll be intensely jealous of anyone who owns this statue that isn’t me.

10) Batman: Arkham City figures

I had to resist dropping in a Disney entry to my list, simply because it’s way too easy. So instead, I’ll drop in an entry for Batman. Square Enix makes Play Arts Kai figures of various characters in the Arkham series of games, and of course, there are plenty of western figures to choose from. For the sake of simplicity, here’s a look at Big Bad Toy Store’s “Arkham City” search page results. Alternatively, you can check out AmiAmi and run a search on their page as well (I couldn’t link directly to it).

This concludes my list… for now! What are your favorite games that you want to see figures of? Should I do this again and list a whole other 10 franchises that you could buy figures and merch for? Because for real, there’s that much awesome stuff out there that’s just waiting to drain your wallet. And I’ll gladly help you part with your money.